2012 Week 1 Power Rankings

A new feature at View From Bernie's Chalet for the 2012 season. Each week Brad will do his power rankings from the best team to the worst in MLB. Who doesn't love lists? Here is week 1 (well technically weekend 1).

1. Tampa Bay Rays-Have to go Rays here. One of, if not the best, starting rotation in baseball. Dominated the powerhouse Yankees on all aspects of their game. The Rays are playing like they are sick of the wild card and are itching to claim the AL East crown.
2. Detroit Tigers- 5 bombs in 4 innings off Josh Beckett. That will be the story all season for the Tigers. They have a very potent offense and will destroy even the best pitching. And there staff is very strong. We all know how good Justin Verlander is. Don’t worry, Valverde will not keep giving up games like he did on opening day.
3. Arizona Diamondbacks- The D-Backs took it to the top starters of their toughest enemy. They made Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner look like #5 starters. The last place Arizona team from a few years ago is now an after thought. These guys are playing on a new level.
4. Texas Rangers- It’s the offense that keeps producing. I would have put them higher, but wins against Chicago and Seattle aren’t all that convincing. Once they play some tougher opponents they will jump up.
5. St. Louis Cardinals- The reigning world champs are playing tough baseball. Their rotation is still succeeding, even without Dave Duncan or Chris Carpenter, and the offense doesn’t seem to be phased from the loss of Albert Pujols.
6. Los Angeles Angels- The Angels aren’t playing the best out of the top 10 teams, but they are a very tough team. They might be showing their age a little. Some of their prospects might be up in mid-season to kick the old guys to the curb.
7. Toronto Blue Jays- Probably played the most innings in baseball thus far. Over came some early deficits to have a very good opening weekend.
8. Washington Nationals-This might be a little high, but to kill the Cubs with pitching and late inning heroics, they really showed off how tough they are going to be in the coming years. I expect them to fall big from this spot as the year goes on.
9. Cincinnati Reds- Another NL Central team that was not intimidated by the much improved Miami Marlins. However they probably only have a couple of years to succeed, I can’t imagine that deal to Votto will give them much flexibility in the future. Still, can’t blame them for locking up a stud.
10. New York Mets- The Mets can pretend they expected to be at this level all along, but we know the truth. It’s only a matter of time before they come crashing down to Earth, even if Johann returns to form.
11. Philadelphia Phillies- The Phillies were everyone’s favorite a year ago. Now their age and injury problems might have them falling behind in the East already. The East was full of potential… now the Mets are the best team looking down on three playoff contenders. Still a lot of baseball to go.
12. New York Yankees- The Yanks can’t be this bad… Can they? I’m guessing a very young, very tough Tampa team just got the best of them.
13. Los Angeles Dodgers-The Dodgers looked good against a bad team. But we have seen before, teams that pick on bad teams can make the playoffs, even if they aren’t great against the good teams.
14. Milwaukee Brewers- Poor performance on opening weekend. But this team has way too much upside to keep performing at that level.
15. Seattle Mariners- They have a few freebie wins from easy battles against the A’s but are still looking good for the Mariners. The fight only gets harder though, eventually they have to meet the Angels and Rangers.
16. San Francisco Giants-Despite getting swept by the Diamondbacks the Giants still showed a lot… Arizona just showed more. Multiple comebacks in that series show the offense might actually produce this year.
17. Pittsburgh Pirates- They beat a good Phillies team. Now are they going to play all year or just the first half again?
18. Boston Red Sox- The Sox can’t be that bad can they? Starting 0-3 is not a good sign, but they still have all the pieces to be major contenders.
19. Baltimore Orioles-I know I’ve given higher rankings to teams that are just as bad for poor performance. I just trust them more than the Orioles. At least other teams have some good signs in their organization. I can’t find many things to like about Baltimore.
20. Atlanta Braves- This offense really needs to get going to have any hope of success. They look like the Atlanta team that got beat up at the end of the year last year, and it’s hard to see them improving if they can’t put anything together.
21. Miami Marlins- Another dream team stinking it up. They are having a lot of troubles, and the possibility of losing their manager can’t be a good sign.
22. Colorado Rockies-Not much going on here. Jamie Moyer is old, not aged, old.
23. Kansas City Royals- I would rank them higher, but their pitching staff isn’t this good. A lot of success from two bad pitchers. They’ll come down to earth. Most talented bottom 10 team though, without a doubt.
24. Houston Astros- They are bad! And they have too many wins for a bad team. They just look better than any one on the bottom half of this list through the first week.
25. Chicago Cubs-The only reliable part of their team two years ago is now a black hole. What happened to Carlos Marmol?
26. San Diego Padres- Their only big inning started on three straight bases loaded walks. Only one run was driven in with a hit. The Padres are a sad sad team.
27. Cleaveland Indians- The Indians will not be in second place again. They have too many holes to fill and it doesn’t look like anyone is on their way to fill them.
28. Oakland A’s- This team gave it all away. Not their new import is the only thing to watch on a dismal roster.
29. Minnesota Twins- Horrible. This team always seemed to win, even when things were bad. Not even they know what to fix first.
30. Chicago White Sox-The White Sox are this low because they can’t decide whether they are rebuilding or not. Why trade away all your team and then sign people to extensions. Once they figure themselves out or start winning, they can move up.

-Brad